


Reunion

by bliss_delight_jr



Category: Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica - James A. Owen
Genre: Angst, Crying, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hugging, Hugo Dyson is mentioned once, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-03
Updated: 2017-10-03
Packaged: 2019-01-08 09:34:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12251697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bliss_delight_jr/pseuds/bliss_delight_jr
Summary: This is a scene from the end of book 3 but I ~rewrote it~ and I added John in. This scene comes at the very end of the chapter Restoration... but you know I ~rewrote it~ and made it kinda worse and added more crying.





	Reunion

**Author's Note:**

> ghjfghksjhh hghghghhg oops

Jack closed the door behind Hugo and turned to John. “Three in the morning, is it?” Jack said, and half-laughed. John tried to laugh, but he could only smile wearily at his friend. They were both so exhausted.

“John,” Jack said gently, “I don’t mean to kick you out, but I think you should head home.”

John didn’t reply. His words and his thoughts were becoming entangled into one big mess.

“John? Really now, you should get some rest.”

“I can’t.”

John broke eye contact with Jack. He glanced around the room, as if his thoughts were appearing on the walls. His face grew paler. He brought his hands together in the hopes to hold them still - to keep them from trembling. John took a shaky breath and looked at Jack again

“Jack,” he said, “I- I need to know if we’ve made the right choices. If we have done enough. If…” 

John and Jack stared at each other. Jack understood. They both shared the same thought. Neither of them said anything else.

Jack took out a key. He went to a hidden drawer - the place where he kept all of his Caretaker related items - and opened it. He took from the drawer the Compass Rose.

With a stick of graphite, he drew onto the rose a small symbol that would summon the only Caretaker in the Archipelago; the person who they needed to see the most that night. A sickening fear grew in John and Jack that this person might never come. 

With a trembling hand, Jack put the rose on his desk. For now, all they could do was wait, and for a few moments, there was only a dead silence in the room. 

Both John and Jack thought that the other one could hear their heart beating.

John moved closer, and Jack looked up at him.

“John--” Jack began, but before he could finish, John wrapped his arms around Jack and held him, as closely and tightly as he could.

“John… He’s going to… He- he will, won’t he?” Jack was finding it hard to talk without his voice shaking.

“John…” Jack held his friend closer. He buried his face into John’s neck and rested his head on John’s shoulder. Jack’s heart began to beat slightly slower now. But now he could feel John’s; it was hard and fast. “We did it, didn’t we?”

John found it difficult to breathe. His lips quivered, and tears streamed down his face. Jack, Jack, he thought. John grabbed at him, ran a hand through Jack’s hair, and held him. He held him as tightly and closely as he could.

Do not let him go, John thought.

John cried, and he could not stop.

Do not let him go.

 

* * *

 

An hour had past. Jack awoke at his desk, and John’s head shot up when they both heard a knock at the door. John sat on the floor next to the chair Jack was in. They looked at each other with wide eyes.

“Jack…” John’s voice was soft, and slightly hoarse. It was almost like a whisper.

Jack rose to his feet. With weak legs, he walked to the door and opened it; John was close behind him.

In front of them was Bert. He was whole - all his limbs and his head were fully attached. He was alive, standing just outside the doorway.

Jack fell back, stumbling, and John grabbed him. Their mentor rushed into the room.

“John, Jack, lads, what is it?” Bert asked, his face a mask of concern. “You both look as if you’ve seen a ghost.”

“It- it’s good to see you Bert,” Jack said, before his voice finally cracked and he collapsed, sobbing, into the old man’s arms.

John’s quivering lips formed a smile. He put his arms around his friends, breathed a deep sigh of relief, and began to sob as well. And he said something between his sobs, so quiet and soft that he was the only one who heard.

“You’re okay,” he said.

Bert held his friends, not talking, until the sun rose.


End file.
